Violence continued to rage in Medellin this weekend, despite the
numerous security measures taken by authorities and the recent
militarization of the north east of Colombia’s second largest city.
According to newspaper El Tiempo, sixteen people were assassinated between Friday night and Saturday night.
One of the victims of the deadly violence this weekend was an 18-month old baby who, together with his mother, got caught in the cross fire between two rival gangs.
In the usually calm suburb of Santa Lucía three young men were assassinated on a soccer field Saturday. Police say they captured the suspected assassins.
Other assassinations took place downtown and in the neighborhoods Prado, Buenos Aires, Villatina, Belén and Castilla.
After a wave of assassinations in February, local Police imposed rigid security measures.
When that didn’t help and tensions between paramilitaries and neighborhood militias seemed to turn into a full blown gang war earlier this month, President Álvaro Uribe ordered the immediate militarization of the north east of the city.
The city is expecting hundreds of extra policemen to be deployed in the city, but this may take until the end of this year.